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Wisconsin lawmaker wants to revive bail bondsmen system

By: Jack Zemlicka, [email protected]//January 25, 2012//

Wisconsin lawmaker wants to revive bail bondsmen system

By: Jack Zemlicka, [email protected]//January 25, 2012//

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A Wisconsin legislator is expected to introduce a bill Friday that would re-establish a bail bondsmen system that has been extinct in the state since 1979.

Rep. Scott Krug, R-Wisconsin Rapids, is the primary author of the proposal, which is set for introduction this week, according to his legislative assistant, Vince Trovato.

A 2011 provision in the current state budget would have revived state licensing of bail bondsmen for the first time in almost 32 years, but Gov. Scott Walker vetoed that in June after public outcry from Wisconsin judges and attorneys.

Under the vetoed system, defendants would have had to pay only a fraction of the bail set by the judge. Their payment would have gone directly to the bail bond corporation, which would insure the rest with the court. As it was proposed in the state budget, a licensed corporation or agent would have gotten 10 percent of the amount of the bond set by judges in Wisconsin.

Trovato said Krug’s proposal is nothing like the 2011 provision. Krug’s proposal, he said, will attempt to address concerns about corruption and oversight for a proposed return to state-regulated bail bondsmen.

“The budget bill set it up as an open system,” Trovato said. “The representative made sure there are standardized procedures as far as who makes referrals to bond and an oversight agency to make sure the corruption of the ’70s is gone.”

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